If you know of any other local demonstrations organised under the Right2Water umbrella group, please email right2waterirl@gmail.com with details including: The organiser, time, location and if a Facebook event page has been set up, please include it.

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Template flyers and posters are being made available on the Right2Water.ie website to facilitate assembly points for local demonstrations. The campaign is also recommending a meeting is hosted in local areas in order to establish a coordinating group.

Right2Water is suggesting a number of options for protests including:

The printing of hard copies of the petition, which can be filled in by locals on the day and returned to campaign headquarters.

Choose a convenient assembly point.

March from the assembly point to a location designated by the coordinating committee of the local R2W group.

All groups should assign one chair with three (or more) speakers in opposition to water charges.

All groups to assign at least one person to update their social media accounts (Facebook/Twitter) with images using the hashtag #Right2Water. These will be shared by the national social media account.

The strength of the Right2Water campaign is its diversity and its broad based unity. “If we all work together we can defeat these water charges and return to a water supply system that is based on need and not on ability to pay.”

In order to be involved in the campaign you only need to have two beliefs:

Water is a human right; and

Water charges should be abolished.

Full details of Right2Water local demonstrations will be announced on Tuesday, 28th October.

Another national demonstration will be organised in the coming weeks as the campaign continues to grow.

Sat Nov 1st is going to be a Right2Water National Day of Local Protests.

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Comments (11 of 11)

Five unions representing over 100,000 workers throughout the Republic today (Wednesday 22nd October) joined forces to call on the government to abolish water user charges. The Communication Workers’ Union, the CPSU, Mandate, OPATSI and Unite the Union are all affiliates of the Right2Water campaign.

The campaign organised the recent National Demonstration which brought 100,000 people onto the streets of Dublin.

In a statement, the unions also said that the credibility of Irish Water had been irrevocably damaged by a combination of mismanagement and political manipulation, and called for the company to be dissolved and its functions returned to the local authorities.

“Our message is very simple: Irish people have already paid for water through general taxation, and are not prepared to pay for it a second time through water user charges.

“It is clear that neither the government’s water charges policy, nor Irish Water, can be reformed.

“The time has come for the government to recognise the overwhelming opposition of the citizens by abolishing water charges, stop wasting further taxpayers’ money on water meter installation, dissolve Irish Water and return its functions to the local authorities, and go back to the drawing board to construct a water management policy which is fit for purpose and respects our Right2Water”, the statement concluded.

According to the Irish Government and the Irish Water Quango it created this water stealth tax charade was set up primarily to "Conserve water and Protect the Environment" because water is our country's "Most Precious Resource"
When asked if any grant aid (taxpayers money) is available to citizens to assist in the cost of the installation of a "Domestic Rainwater Harvesting and
Filtration System" that would immediately and "measurably" conserve water and protect the environment (Government primary objectives) similar to home insulation, solar panels etc Minister Alan Kelly, the DOE and the Irish Government categorically said NO and there are no plans to provided for such a scheme either.

A related e-mail -- titled 'Parliament Speech on "Motion on Irish Water" ...' was sent yesterday afternoon (October 28th 2014) to the "first half" (in alphabetical order) of the "elected representatives" of "the people" (known in Ireland as "TDs"): to the Central Government of the Republic of Ireland.

Another very unhealthy "symptom" of this "core-issue problem", for example, is the very serious set of potential "social problems" connected with the planned "Poolbeg Incinerator", some of which have been referred to at:http://www.indymedia.ie/article/105046#comment299756

Des29 is correct. The proof of the pudding is the fact that they gave out 13 fracking licenses to the likes of Tamboran. If they cared even a tiny bit about our precious water aquifers then why would they even consider doing this?.

Fracking has been shown to damage / destroy aquifers by polluting them with methane, radio active debris, carcinogenic fracking fluids which can contain over 100 poisonous ingredients etc.

However politicians would allow fracking in a heartbeat if we let them. That's how little they care about the environment (but how much they love that private corporate cash)

So don't be fooled by their lies about "conserving our precious water resource".

If you know of any other local demonstrations organised under the Right2Water umbrella group, please email right2waterirl@gmail.com with details including: The organiser, time, location and if a Facebook event page has been set up, please include it.

Another related e-mail -- this time titled 'UPDATE 1: Parliament Speech on "Motion on Irish Water" ...'was sent yesterday afternoon (October 29th 2014) to the "Second Half" (in alphabetical order) of the "elected representatives" of "the people" (known in the Republic of Ireland as "TDs"): to the Central Government of the Republic of Ireland.

As can be seen at the www address immediately above, an attempt has been made to try to remind the heads of the THREE MAIN BRANCHES of the present Republic of Ireland Government -- Executive (Prime Minister Enda Kenny TD), Legislative (President Michael D Higgins), and Judicial (Chief Justice Susan Denham -- of the now very pressing need for them to "start towing the line", without delay, regarding the unusually clear and extremely easy to understand "legal" contents of Article 6.1 of our written Constitution: which (as I see things), #1, places a legal collective-duty on ALL of our "public servants", in and around our "Local Governments" and our "Central Government", to first consult with "the people" regarding the "common good" projects they consider becoming engaged in on behalf of "the people" they are meant to be serving; and #2, that before going ahead with any such major projects (of the "Irish Water" kind, for example), that they leave the all important "final" decision to "the people": using national referendums as and when they generally appear (to the general public) to be necessary and sensible.

Put another way, the contents of the paragraph just above might also be taken to mean:

"We, 'the people' of the Republic of Ireland have already had more than enough of all the socially destructive Political-And-Legal "Rí Rá agus Ruaile Buaile" of the Banksters and their Accomplices; and, from now on, we want our legal and political rights as set out under the SUPREME LAW of our sovereign nation: which you -- in your work as our "public servants" -- have a legal duty to provide us with."

Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann (the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland):

"All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good."

As I see things, and correctly or otherwise, comments of the kind Mr Rabbitte has made this morning are all part -- albeit a "quiet" isolated part in this particular instance -- of the "deliberately contrived mischievous conduct of an energetic, fraudulently chaotic, and highly deceitful kind, which is intended to thoroughly distract, confuse, and completely mislead the targets: for the purpose of stealing from them, in all of the most sly, serious and psychopathically cold-hearted and uncaring ways possible" ... text which formed part of the message-text of yesterday's e-mail to the Republic of Ireland Senators at the www address just above.

Part of all the socially destructive 'Political-And-Legal "Rí Rá agus Ruaile Buaile" of the Banksters and their Accomplices', in other words.

It is great to see coverage of the local protests tomorrow against the Water Charges but what is really odd is that the mainstream media are not only covering it but giving it extensive coverage and it was even in the first half of the RTE news. This has rarely happened for the many many other issues, like Bin Tax, numerous anti-war marches over the last 20 years or more.

So the question is why are the mainstream media giving the coverage? Have they decided that they don't want FG to win the next election? In previous elections going back for years, it is usually the case for any Taoiseach to get elected they have to be in favour with the biggest selling newspaper of the land and often they will have been invited to meet with the editor well in advance -presumably to flesh out their views and to see if they are safe for Irish capitalists.

It definitely appears that one faction of the powers that be want this Water Charges issue to create some sort of situation although I very much doubt they would allow things to get completely out of hand and they would actually be scrapped.

maybe it's simply that they are just hedging their bets. They realise that the writing is on the wall and the people will sink FG at the next election over this and they wish to be seen to be on the side of the people instead of sharing the fate of FG and completely losing the trust of the ordinary people who do buy their newspapers and fund their operations after all (even though clearly up to now, they did their very best to sell neoliberal guff to the Irish people)

"We see in recent news calls for a referendum on our nation’s water from various smaller parties like the Greens as reported in The Examiner for instance. This all seems very expedient and we wonder where they were with their calls for the people to decide during the bank guarantee or the bailout."

Where were they indeed? - the Greens that is.

And, far more importantly (in my opinion), where were all the rest of our main political parties?

Come all you people of Ireland’s green land,
Follow the march and give us a hand,
Let’s rid of this Government once and for all,
Come on comrades and rally to the call.
They have taken our dignity, and our pride,
So let’s join together and march side by side.
To the streets we shall go, with banners held high,
“Down with water charges!” is the motto we’ll cry!
Kenny, your days are numbered so beware,
We don’t want you as our leader, you don’t care!
That smooth, fancy chatter won’t help you anymore,
It won’t be long now till you will be out the Dáil door!
The citizens of Ireland are sick to their teeth,
In this rebellion, we will rise up on our feet,
It won’t be the pike, the sword or cannon gun
But the votes of the people will put you on the run.
Now the farmers of Ireland have a voice to talk,
So they too are on the march and out on the walk.
This is our country where we each and all belong,
It's our so-called Government that did the wrong.
The times are changing; we are in for a revolution
Because we, the people, think it's the only solution.
Yes, we’ve had enough of hardship and oppression,
Of cut backs, water and property tax and depression.
Are they blind and gone stupid in the way they feel?
Tormenting the country through poverty unreal!
Wake up and look ‘round and tell what you see,
People have had their fill of austerity, now let us be.
The Fine Gael party has done so much harm,
Kenny has lost the people’s trust with his false charm.
The Labour Party is dead and gone. Good bye! Good bye!
“We want a decent leadership!” is the motto we’ll cry!